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Serpentine queues in front of Covid-19 vaccination centres are a common sight across the country but not at Capitol Hall in Darjeeling. The issue is not vaccine hesitancy but technophobia. Advertisement The state government has introduced a WhatsApp chatbot to book vaccination slots and Capitol Hall is the only centre in Darjeeling where all bookings have to be made through WhatsApp number 8335999000. Through the chatbot, people aged above 45 years can avail either of the two doses of Covishield. C.P. Subba, secretary, Darjeeling municipality, admitted the centre was receiving only 55 to 65 registrations a day against their daily target of 100 jabs ever since the initiative started about 10 days back. “We have not been able to reach our daily target of 100 jabs,” said Subba. ....
Roshan Giri, the second-in-command of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Bimal Gurung camp), could not vote on Saturday as his name was missing from the electoral roll of Darjeeling Assembly seat. His name had been struck off in June 2018, months after the Gorkhaland agitation ended in September 2017. Piyush Salunkhe, returning officer of Darjeeling seat, explained why. “According to the police report, Giri had pending non-bailable warrants against him that lifted on March 20, also the last date to finalise the voter list,” said Salunkhe. Had Giri applied for inclusion of his name on March 20, it would have been there, he said. Names of Morcha leader Gurung, Gurung’s wife Asha, daughter Nanda and son Avinash, and other Morcha leaders had also been deleted from the electoral roll. ....